Something about the Open Library

When I wrote about public libraries and the lockdowns around a year ago, I said that eBooks and other online material can help to compensate for the lack of access to physical library books. 

The library restrictions eased during the summer, but there is a possibility that stricter rules will soon be re-instated. If so, I will once again stop visiting the public library. The pile of my own books that I set aside last year to re-read and donate in batches has shrunk to almost nothing, but I have found a new – to me - online resource in the form of the Open Library, a not-for-profit project that operates very like a public library.

Project Gutenberg is a good source of digitised books, but in some ways the Open Library is better. 

Where Project Gutenberg has only older books that are in the public domain because their copyrights have expired, the Open Library's lending stock includes newer, in-copyright books; where Project Gutenberg's books are available in various modern formats, the Open Library provides online images of the original print versions: readers get scanned covers and text pages, and illustrations and photographs are often reproduced too. 

As can be seen from the labels, ticket pockets and date stamps on some opening pages, many of the books were provided by public libraries; this makes the reading experience even more like the real thing.

Where Project Gutenberg has lists, the Open Library also has 'shelves' that are organised and can be browsed like those in a physical library.  

The ever-growing Open Library catalogue aims to list all works by a particular author whether they are in the Library or not; it is possible to select only those that are available for Reading and Borrowing.

Something about Project Gutenberg

Many articles on here say that a particular book is available on Project Gutenberg. This post contains some basic information that someone who is unfamiliar with the enterprise may find useful – even though the Open Library and Internet Archive are more recent, and in some ways better, alternative options. 

Project Gutenberg websites host thousands of free-to-read books that are in the public domain. Their copyrights have expired. They can be read online in various languages, formats and editions. Books can even be downloaded from the digital library.

There is a lot of general information about Project Gutenberg in Wikipedia and on the Project websites themselves. It is best for interested people to go direct to the sources and look at the rules, the catalogues and the search and other options, but I want to say a few things about my experiences of using this wonderful resource. 

I prefer paper books, preferably with the original illustrations, but have little space for a library of my own. Project Gutenberg is an ideal place to find the classics, some old friends and books whose printed versions are very expensive or unavailable. Some of the eBooks even have illustrations.

I may want to refer to certain books from time to time; going to Project Gutenberg saves me from having to keep getting them from the public library or storing my own copies. It is often much easier to search the digital copies for remembered topics or phrases than it is to try to find something in a printed book.